


Solve The Case Of My Open Heart

by ObsessedWithEverything808



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-07
Updated: 2015-08-15
Packaged: 2018-04-13 10:20:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4518141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObsessedWithEverything808/pseuds/ObsessedWithEverything808
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I'm pretty sure you're the Watson of this team."  Skye glares, but Bobbi just smirks and leans forward to set up her cue stick.  "Though, if you'd like to settle it, we could always visit your Brit scientist down in the labs?  I'm sure she'd be up for deciding for us, especially if it means spending more time with you."</p><p>"She's not into me!" Skye protests, yelling unnecessarily loud for multiple reasons.  One: Bobbi was still insisting that Dr. Simmons had a crush on her, and two: Bobbi just successfully pocketed the eight ball, winning the game.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Did someone ask for a police detective au? No? I didn't either... but I'm still doing the thing? I apologize.

Police sirens still blare and echo off the empty streets of the otherwise calm neighborhood, the perpetrator being dragged out of his house with his hands cuffed behind his back, parents and the children who were kidnapped crying as they're finally reunited after a brutal three months.  Skye watches, leaning back against her squad car and taking a deep breath, glad that they cracked the case in time for all the kids to still be safe and alive.  She's relieved that this whole mess is finally over.

"Looks like we did it, girl.  Another case solved." Trip says as he walks up to Skye, his blindingly white smile appearing on his face, obviously proud of their work.  Skye smiles back, accepting the high five that her partner in  _solving_ crime offers.  He places his hands on his hips and glances back towards the scene, taking it all in.  They've been working long and hard these past couple of months, stuffed in their office and huddled over a computer, connecting every minuscule clue in order to finally pinpoint the offender.  

"I'm just glad that crazy son of a bitch is being put behind bars," Skye mutters, crossing her arms over her chest as she watches the kidnapper's head being ducked down into another officer's car, disappearing behind the tinted windows of the vehicle.  

"Agreed." Trip says, walking over to the driver's side of the car and opening the door, Skye doing the same thing on the passenger side.  They both buckle in and shut the doors, Trip starting the engine and driving them away from the curb and onto the street, getting them on their way back to the station.

***

"Well, I guess a congratulations is in order.  Well done.  I'm proud of you both."  Coulson clasps his hands together on the desk, shifting his weight forward so he can be a bit closer to two of his best police detectives.  "Jackson Markinson will be put behind bars for his crimes, and it's all thanks to you two."

"It was a hard case, but as always, we managed," Skye replies, shrugging her shoulders like it was no big deal, leaning back in her chair and putting her feet up on the desk.  If it was anyone else Coulson would've ordered them to put their feet down.

"Yes, and I knew you would.  I can always count on you to get something done.  Which is why I'm putting you on a new case, one that's been giving the original people I assigned it to some trouble."

"A new case, sir?  Already?" Trip asks, a bit disappointed that they would have to get back to work so soon.

"Actually, Trip, I've decided to give this one to Skye.  I'm creating a new team, one that will for sure get me the results I'm looking for.  Agent Johnson and Agent Morse will be working together on the new case, and you will be assigned a new partner in the meantime."

"Wait, sorry, my hearing must be messed up," Skye interrupts, "It sounded like you said Trip and I aren't going to be working together?"  She's really hoping that she didn't hear what she thought she did.

"That's because I _did_ say that."  Well...yet _another_ thing she didn't want to hear.

"But Coulson-"

"It's not a permanent thing, Skye, so don't worry about that.  It's just that this case has been open for far too long, and we need to solve it.  So I'm putting you with Bobbi Morse, because I know you two will be able to handle it.  Plus, it might be good for you two to get some experience with other people."

Trip raises an eyebrow at Skye, his lips twitching up into a small smile while she just frowns at him, knowing what he was thinking.

"I think it's a great idea, sir."  Yup, she knew  _exactly_ what he was thinking.  Sure he loves Skye and couldn't ever ask for a better partner, but he also likes working with other people from time to time, mainly because then he gets a chance to shine and be the cool one, instead of it being Skye.  Plus, getting a case as big as Coulson is making it sound could be huge for Skye, and he won't let her pass that up.

"Thank you, Trip.  Don't worry, I'll get you a case and temporary partner as soon as possible."  Coulson nods at Trip, letting him know he was dismissed.  He quickly jumps up from his seat and walks out of the office, patting Skye's head on the way out.  "And you, Skye?" Coulson asks once Trip is gone.

The detective sighs, but still nods her head.  "Yeah, sure, fine.  I'll work with Bobbi."

***

"Bruising around the neck." Skye calls out, squatting down next to the body so she can get a closer look, her gloved fingers running over the marks.  The sun's out in full force today, making the air uncomfortably warm, she really regretting wearing her denim jacket and jeans today.

"So, you think the victim was choked?"  Skye glances up at the much taller woman, a tiny bit glad that she didn't seem to be the only one affected by the weather if the frown and beads of sweat on Bobbi's face is anything to go by.

"Looks like it," she responds.  "Whoever did this must've persuaded her to come out the back of the bar, and then strangled her once they were out of sight.  She probably fought, so they wrapped their hand around her throat and choked her to try and keep her quiet."  Skye makes small gestures, using her finger to map out the entire scene starting from the back door of the bar, Bobbi nodding along and jotting down notes.  "There's a few incision wounds on her hands.  She tried to defend herself against the blade." Skye adds, using her fingers to move the limp body's hands and arms back to their original placement after noting the marks.

"She must've been pushed to the ground before the final stab to the stomach.  The wound is wide, so it was most likely a downward stab with vertical movement of the blade." Bobbi finishes, clicking her pen once she's satisfied with the notes.  Skye stands up again, gently tugging off her gloves as she walks back over to Bobbi.  

They weren't able to properly get to know each other back at the station, Coulson getting a call about a homicide that he said related to the case before they were even able to set eyes on each other.  They were able to introduce themselves on the way to the scene, but they were also a bit preoccupied trying to read the files and catch up on the entirety of the case before arriving.  Once they were at the bar, they immediately went to the yellow tape, ducking under it easily and flashing their badges, granting them access.  

Their partnership seems to be working fine so far, though, and Skye is slightly relieved.

"It's exactly the same as all the others," Bobbi comments once Skye is closer, nodding her head down towards the manila folder she brought along, it being tucked safely under her arm while Skye's is still back in the car.  "The victims were all choked, then stabbed in the stomach."

"This being the fourth one, I don't think it's a coincidence," Skye adds, her brow furrowing in thought.

"We'll send the body down to forensics and see if they can find anything.  If we're lucky we'll find a lead, but our suspect has been able to keep their DNA out of every single murder, not a single trace left behind." Bobbi says, the two of them walking away from the body in the alleyway behind the bar and back to their car, mutually deciding that their work on site was done for the day.

"Have we dug into the history of the past victims?  Found anything about trouble they could've gotten into?"

"They've all been checked, but nothing in the databases connected them to anything that would give us a lead, and neither of them are related or connected in any way aside from appearance."

"So the fact that they have similar appearance is our only lead?"

"The one and only, yes."

"Well this is gonna be fun."  Bobbi smirks at Skye's sarcastic tone, looking at the other woman over the roof of the car before getting into her seat, Skye following suit.

"You're sarcastic.  That's nice to know."

Skye looks over at her new partner, already seeing Bobbi's eyes on her.  "Yeah, well, I like to lighten the mood," she says, causing Bobbi to nod her head in understanding, a small smile growing on her lips.  "And I also like a good burger.  How about we stop for one before heading back?"

Bobbi lets out a laugh, this time nodding her head more enthusiastically.  "I like the way you think."

***

Skye walks with her nose buried in the file, her fingers flipping through pages as her eyes scan and skim for important words and or clues.  Skye is one of the detectives in the station that is notorious for not watching where they're going, other officers knowing to watch out and get out of her way as not to disturb her.

That's why it's entirely unexpected when she goes crashing into someone, her hands barely having time to adjust and catch the file before it goes flying.

"I'm  _so_ sorry, I should've moved out of the way.  I don't know what I was expecting, and it's entirely unlike me to not make the calculated decisions necessary-"

"Wow, you are talking really fast." Skye interrupts, effectively causing the person to snap their mouth shut for a few short seconds.  It's a woman, a bit shorter than Skye herself and with a more petite physique, light honey brown hair framing her face, similarly colored eyes to match.   Somewhere in the back of her mind Skye also notes a British accent.

"Well, yes, I tend to ramble when nervous or in a situation I feel uncomfortable with, and seeing as how I caused us to bump into each other, I am extremely embarrassed."  Yup, definitely a British accent.  "Oh my...did I just--I said that aloud, didn't I?"  Skye just nods her head, slowly, still in the process of catching up.  "I'm sorry to take up your time.  I'll just be leaving, then-"

"Woah, woah, woah, hey, uhm... Look, it's not a big deal.  It's totally okay, I promise.  No harm done."  Skye reaches her arm out to stop the woman before she got the chance to speed off, feeling a bit guilty for making her feel so bad about bumping into her.

The woman takes a step back from Skye's arm, relaxing the slightest bit from her words.  She pulls at the hem of her collared sweater, straightening it out since it got a bit wrinkled from her movement.

"Still, I apologize for not moving."

"I apologize for not watching where I was going."  Skye holds up the manila folder, using her other hand to gesture towards it.  "I was distracted.  It's totally my fault."

"Nonsense.  This is on me."

"You're nothing if not stubborn, I'll give you that."  The woman opens her mouth to protest, but Skye lifts her index finger, causing her to get the hint and stop her efforts to argue.  "Anyway, how about we move on and talk about why you're here, exactly?  I've never seen you around before."

"Ah, yes!  I'm here to speak with Phil Coulson?  Head of the Department?  Police Commissioner?"  The woman smiles upon seeing the flash of recognition across Skye's face, clearly being in the right place if someone knew who she was talking about.

"Oh, yeah, Coulson.  I can show you to his office."

"Oh no, that's okay.  I don't want to trouble you or take time out of your schedule."

"You already kinda have," Skye says, chuckling.  "Plus, I owe you for the whole bumping into you thing."

"I thought we already established that was my fault?"

"We didn't establish _anything_.  Now come on, I'm taking you to his office."

They walk the small distance to Coulson's office, Skye noticing that the other woman doesn't seem to have anything to say for once.  She enjoys the silence though, taking the opportunity to flip through the papers in the folder again, hoping that the hundredth time's the charm.

Skye stops them in front of the door that leads them to Coulson's office, she knocking twice and giving her boss a few seconds before opening it, holding it and allowing the woman to enter before her.  Coulson stands when they both enter, not having been expecting anyone.

"Heya chief.  She was having trouble finding your office, so I brought her here."

"Oh, thank you Agent Johnson.  You're dismissed."  Skye nods at Coulson's words, giving a parting smile towards the woman (who she still doesn't know the name of) and closing the door behind her.  "Dr. Jemma Simmons, I presume.  Please, have a seat."

 _Agent Johnson_.  

Jemma smiles to herself.  That's a name she's going to have to remember.

***

"Must you click your pen?" Bobbi asks, glaring across her desk at Skye.  Skye just smirks at her from her own desk, sticking her tongue out and purposefully clicking her pen again.  "You're a child."

"No,  _you're_ a child," Skye mocks, raising her voice to make it sound like a child in elementary school.

"Ugh, how old are you?" Bobbi scoffs, rolling her eyes and trying to turn her attention back to her computer screen, but quickly snaps her eyes back over to her partner when she hears a click again.

"I'll have you know I just turned six," Skye states proudly, pointing her pen at Bobbi and raising her eyebrows like that would somehow help prove her point.

Bobbi is about to fire back, but then stops herself, pursing her lips together before shaking her head with a laugh bubbling up her throat.  "If it wasn't so late at night I'd say we were insane."

This time it's Skye's turn to laugh, the corners of her eyes squinting and her head tilting back against her chair.  She then retorts with, "well you're the one who started it", and promptly throws her pen over at Bobbi, lifting her arms up in the air when it successfully bounces off the other woman's shoulder before hitting the ground.  Bobbi just gapes at her, not being able to believe that she just did that, trying her hardest not to laugh through her dropped jaw.

"I'm pretty sure we're supposed to working right now, not throwing pens like five year-olds."

"Once again,  _you_ started it."

" _You_ were being irritating."

"What if clicking my pen helps me focus better?"

"Well it doesn't help _me_ , so stop doing it."

"Fine, I'll use a stupid pencil."

"Yes, _please_ use your stupid pencil.  It will be much appreciated."  

The two finally get back to their work, Skye grumbling to herself as she digs through the drawer of her desk to find a pencil, of course not missing the opportunity to grab a dull one and irritate Bobbi with the sounds of the pencil sharpener.  After Skye's purposeful racket, a nice silence falls over the office, Bobbi clacking away on the keyboard while Skye's pencil scratches against the papers, preferring to be more visual and hands on with her work while the other woman was more into organizing on the computer (though don't let that fool you; Skye is still a wizard on the computer when she's asked to or chooses to use one).

"You know," Bobbi starts, breaking the silence, "You're much easier to work with than my ex-partner."

Skye huffs out a gentle laugh, still continuing to circle important words and create theories in the margins.  "Yeah?  I'm guessing you two had some bad history?"

" _Oh yeah_.  See, he's also my ex-husband."  Skye's pencil falters, but she quickly picks back up again before Bobbi notices.  "I don't know why I even decided to get involved with him, though.  He's self-centered and thinks the world revolves around him.  Oh, and he's an egotistical bastard."

"Classic douche," Skye comments, drawing an arrow between two words in one of the reports, noticing a connection.  "Well, good thing you don't have to deal with him anymore."

"Yeah, I've just been going from partner to partner, Coulson assigning me with whoever he thinks necessary.  I'm glad we got to work together at some point though.  I've heard some great stuff about you.  Plus, you're pretty cool and easy to get along with."

Skye fully pauses her work now, looking over at Bobbi while she still types away.  "Wait, you heard things about me?"

"Of course.  The other guys never shut up about you, always talking about how fast you solve cases and how you might just be the best in the business.  When you took chase after that one guy last year all on your own you've been all anyone can gossip about."

"Oh great, now everyone probably thinks I'm a know-it-all show off."

"No way, Skye.  You're a _rockstar_."


	2. Chapter 2

"Yup, this is our killer," Bobbi states, Skye standing over her and watching the woman trace over the stab wound just below the now dead woman's sternum.  "She didn't put up much of a fight though, no other incision marks."  Bobbi runs her hand over the woman's throat, her face falling into a sad frown, Skye watching her in curiosity.  "There's no bruising, but her trachea is collapsed.  She was definitely choked."

"Well jeez; she fought the least, but got the most brutal attack," Skye mutters, her nose scrunching in disgust at how awful this woman was treated.  Bobbi nods from below her, her eyes scanning the area around the body.  Besides the obvious stains of blood, there's nothing that she can possibly use as a clue.  No footprints, no dropped items, no _nothing_. 

"Did we get the security footage from the bar?" 

"Yeah, I got them," Skye answers.  "Already stashed them back in the car.  Hopefully this time we might actually get something from them."  The last few tapes of security footage that Coulson gave them had ended up being fruitless, no suspicious activity anywhere.

"We'll look through them when we get back."  Skye nods in agreement.  "For now though, we should take a look inside the bar.  Maybe try and come up with theories about how it happened, then see if we can find anything that can justify it."

Skye offers her hand to Bobbi, the other detective gratefully taking it and allowing her partner to help her up.  They both leave their gloves on, ducking under the yellow tape that surrounds the body and walking a few steps over to the back door of the bar, walking inside since it was already open for the investigation.  There are already a few officers inside, some even from different stations, but they don't seem to have any interest in bothering the two woman or taking them away from their work.

Skye runs her hand across a few tables as she passes them, her mind trying to picture what the bar was like with everyone inside, including their killer and victim.  She's gotten so good at this type of method that she can almost feel the loud music blaring through her chest, random faces slowly appearing around her as she fully immerses herself in her imagination.  She pauses in her steps for a few seconds, then strides over to the tables more towards the front of the bar.  Usual suspects and offenders usually hang out in the back of the bar where there's less attention drawn to them, but this case is different, and the killer seems to be smart enough to hide in plain sight and make themselves less suspicious.

Bobbi smiles to herself when she sees how focused Skye is, carefully following her as not to disturb whatever is happening in her mind.  She's curious as to what Skye is thinking, but she won't dare say or ask anything out loud.  She takes the left side of the bar when Skye takes the right, scanning over the first few tables while also watching Skye out of the corner of her eye.

Skye stands at the second table from the front, purposely going to the right side of the bar first, knowing that killers usually like to watch for targets, and since the entrance is on the left side of the bar, it would be easier and much more effective to watch from the right side and pick out the targets as they walk in.  The first table is way too obvious, and also too close to the bar.  Too many people would be able to over hear a conversation, so the killer probably played it safe and chose the second table, because the third table would've been too far, people losing interest the further they walk away from the bar.

Skye imagines a shadowy figure as the killer, then watches in her mind as a group of woman come walking by, the killer calling out to them and offering to buy them drinks.  The women agree, taking their seats in the booth and giggling excitedly, already having consumed enough alcohol for their judgement to be clouded.  They drink and talk for a maybe an hour or so, and then the killer chooses the victim based on her light brown hair and small frame, asking her to talk with him somewhere more private.

Skye follows behind the scene playing through her mind, walking along the pathway between tables and towards the back of the bar, stopping at the door and looking back out at the body, her imagination coming to a halt and bringing her back to real life.  She turns around so she's looking back inside, making eye contact with Bobbi.

"Check that table," Skye says, pointing towards the second table as she makes her way back, a sense of urgency in her voice.  Bobbi is already shining her flashlight at a certain angle to try and catch any latent prints left behind on the table when Skye gets back over there.  "The killer was most likely sitting at one of the ends of the booth, check there."  

"I got one.  I'll start developing it so we can get it down to forensics," Bobbi states, pulling out the supplies necessary to develop the fingerprint.

Skye looks under the table, shining her flashlight around so she can see better, hoping something will catch her eye.  It's then that her eyes hone in on a small cluster of white specks on the carpet, her eyes narrowing and coming to the conclusion that it's a powder like substance.

"Hey, Bobbi, did you start developing yet?" she asks, still eyeing the powder.

"No, I was just about to start getting the powder on it to help define it," Bobbi replies, stopping in her process of opening the small bottle, furrowing her brows even though Skye can't see.  "Wait, why?"

"Uh, I think I got something.  It's powder.  I just wanted to make sure it wasn't ours."

"Holy shit, where?"  Bobbi joins Skye under the table, her head tilting curiously when her eyes catch on what her partner's flashlight is focusing on.  "Oh my God...does our killer roofie the victims?"

"No, rohypnol doesn't usually come in a powder form."

"So it's probably GHB or ketamine"

"Yeah, it's gotta be one of those."

"Wait, the victim didn't fight back this time, right?"

"Right."

"I'm thinking it might be ketamine.  Ketamine usually causes impaired motor function or loss of control.  All of our past victims had incision marks on their arms and hands, but what if it's actually not just from them defending themselves, but also them having trouble controlling their limbs in their frantic attempts to escape?  Sporadic movement is just as dangerous as staying still.  Plus, it also causes numbness in some cases, and what if that's what happened to this victim?"

"We can take some of this down to forensics, but I'm pretty sure you're right, Bobbi."

"I'll finishing developing the fingerprint, and you can collect some of this stuff, then we'll get back to the station to get back to work.  Skye...I think we're getting somewhere."

"I think so, too."

***

"I really wanna touch everything," Skye murmurs, she and Bobbi walking through the doors of the forensics lab.  There's many machines and cool looking things and Skye just really wants to play with it all, her fingers itching to press at least one button on one of these things.

"I'm pretty sure you'll give at least half of these workers a heart attack if you do that, so please don't," Bobbi warns, bumping her arm against Skye's to try and get her to focus.  "Now come on, Coulson said we should talk to some Simmons person.  Apparently she's pretty good at fast results."

"Never heard of that name, but then again I don't exactly visit forensics that often, so..."

"Same here.  I don't know, maybe we can ask around."  Skye shrugs in agreement, so Bobbi casually walks up to one of the scientists that has her back to them, tapping her on the shoulder to try and get her attention.  Apparently the small touch was a bad idea, because the next thing she knew Bobbi was watching the woman twist around in horror, letting out a small squeal.   _Note to self: don't tap forensics people on their shoulders_.  "Woah, woah, I'm-I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to startle you like that."

"Oh no, it's quite alright.  I just get very wrapped up in my work, and I wasn't expecting anyone.  It's alright though, really."  Skye's ears perk up at the familiar British accent, peeking around Bobbi's tall body to get a glimpse at the woman she was apologizing to.

Yup, that's stubborn British girl alright.

"Hey, I know you," Skye says, smiling as she comes up behind Bobbi to show herself.  Bobbi moves to the side to accommodate her presence.

The other woman instantly recognizes her, a blush starting to creep up to her cheeks as her eyes go wide in recognition.  She then quickly ducks her head and looks away, too embarrassed and mentally kicking herself for freaking out after such a simple tap to the shoulder.  The detective must think she's crazy and delusional.  

"H-Hello."

"So, I guess this is what you had to talk to Coulson about.  Congrats and welcome to the station."  Bobbi is completely lost, wondering why the petite scientist seems so shy all of a sudden with Skye's appearance.  She has a lot to catch up on apparently.  "Hey, do you think you can help us with something?  We're looking for a Dr. Simmons.  Do you know who that is?"

"Jemma Simmons," the scientist states quietly, wringing her hands together and finally looking back up at the two detectives.  "Yes, well, uhm, that's actually," she pauses to nervously tuck a few strands of hair behind her ear, offering a shy smile towards Skye, "me."

"Oh... _oh_!" 

"Well, perfect!  We have a fingerprint, as well as a powder substance that we think might be ketamine.  Can you check that out for us?" Bobbi questions.  While the whole scene between Jemma Simmons and Skye is kinda cute and honestly pretty adorable, they still have work to do.

"Oh, yes, of course!  I can get you some matches on the fingerprint, and I'll run the powder so that we can determine what type of drug it is.  It shouldn't take long."  Jemma takes the little baggies from Bobbi, giving a parting glance towards Skye before shyly smiling again and hurrying off.

Skye scrunches her lips and looks around the lab, patiently waiting with her hands in her pockets.  Bobbi looks at her incredulously, wondering how she's so nonchalant to how Dr. Simmons was acting around her.

"Dude, you're just gonna ignore it?" she finally asks when Skye actually starts  _whistling_.

Skye raises an eyebrow and looks at Bobbi questioningly, dropping her puckered lips to take a break from her whistling.  "Ignore what?"

"Oh my God, you don't know that she has a crush on you."

"What?  Who?"  Skye honestly looks confused, and Bobbi drops her jaw in amusement.

"Holy shit, you really don't know..."

"Bobbi, what are you talking about?  Who has a crush on me?"

"You are  _so_ blind!  Jemma Simmons totally has a crush on you, and you can't even tell."

"She does  _not_.  She's just super nice, that's all."

"Uh-huh," Bobbi utters, pushing her tongue against her lips and watching Skye curiously, formulating a plan in her mind.  "Sure.  If you say so."

Before Skye can argue Jemma is popping up in front of them again, results in hand and a smile on her face (Bobbi noting that it's more directed towards Skye).

"I've run some tests on the powder, and I found that it is indeed ketamine."  Bobbi smiles proudly and does a small fist pump down at her side so that it's less noticeable.  "And I matched the thumb print with a woman named Lucy Anderson.  I printed out her information for you."

Skye takes the papers from Jemma's outstretched hand, looking through them while Bobbi stares down the scientist to gather information, the woman quickly looking back at Skye once she notices.

"Cool, thanks Simmons, this is perfect."  Jemma tries to hold in the grin that's threatening to break out on her face, sucking in her lips and trying to act like Skye's praise doesn't mean absolutely everything to her.  "By the way, I'm Skye Johnson, and this is my partner, Bobbi Morse.  I just realized I haven't even introduced myself yet."

Bobbi nods at Jemma, offering a kind smile to Skye's future girlfriend.  "Nice to meet you."

"Anyway, Ms. Anderson doesn't live to far away from here, so I think we should pay her a visit," Skye says, Bobbi nodding.  "Thank you again, and hopefully we'll see each other around."

Skye and Bobbi make their exit, Jemma letting a cheery "good luck!" emit past her lips, immediately going red and smacking herself on her forehead once she realizes how stupid she sounds.

She grumbles to herself, hands on her hips as she sighs and turns to get back to work, but pauses when her coworker comes barreling towards her.

"You just spoke to  _Agent Johnson,_ " Fitz states, eyes wide and an excited look on his face.

"Uhm...yes, I did?  Is that a problem, or-"

" _Problem_?" Fitz squeaks, his arms flailing at his sides.  "It's  _fantastic_!  She's the one you have a crush on, right?"

"Go away."

"Oh come on, Jemma.  Just admit that-"

"Admit what?  There's nothing to admit."

"Alright, I see how it is.  I'll get you someday, though.  Someday."

Jemma rolls her eyes as he walks away, still muttering "someday" under his breath.

***

"Ms. Anderson, we're here with the police," Bobbi states, standing tall with her professional demeanor, flashing her badge while Skye does the same next to her.  "We'd like to ask you a few questions about the murder of Clara Bertson.  May we come in?"

"Yes, please, come in."  Lucy Anderson leads Bobbi and Skye through her home, telling them to make themselves comfortable on the couch, she taking her own seat across from them on a chair.  "Would you like anything to drink?"

"No thank you, ma'am.  If it's alright with you, we'd just like to get started as soon as possible.  This is a very complicated case," Skye says, also putting on her professional mask.

"Oh, yes of course.  Please, ask me anything."

"What was your relationship with Ms. Bertson?" Bobbi asks.

"She and I were best friends.  We attended the same college."

"On the night of the homicide, did you and Clara come in contact with anyone suspicious?" 

"No.  It was just us two having a good time.  No guys offered us any drinks, and nobody caused us any trouble."

"Did Clara ever come in contact with someone besides you?" Skye asks now, frustrated that the answer wasn't the one she was looking for.

"I didn't see her talking to anyone else, but it was really crowded that night.  I do remember losing her for a bit.  But she was still alive the next time I found her."

"Where could she have gone when she wasn't with you?"

"I don't really--well, there was a guy she said was really handsome.  She might've gone to talk to him."

"Do you remember where he was sitting?"

"Second table."

Skye smiles at Bobbi, satisfied.

"Thank you, Ms. Anderson.  We appreciate your help," Bobbi states, she and Skye standing from their seats.  The woman leads them back to the door, saying something about how she was glad to be able to help with the case of her best friend's death.

"All we have to do now is look back at the tapes and find whoever was sitting at that second table," Skye says, giddily jumping slightly in her seat, glad they were finally getting somewhere.

***

"There he is."  Bobbi points to Skye's computer screen, singling out the sleazy looking guy at the second table who was nursing a drink.

"There, Lucy and Clara just walked in," Skye says, watching the woman.  They speed up the tape a little bit, Skye stopping it when they spot Clara walking up to the man.  "Okay, they're talking, talking, and--there!  There!  When she turned away he slipped the powder in her drink!"

"Holy shit, we just found our--wait, wait, what is he doing?"  The two watch on the small screen as the man digs through his pocket, dismissing Clara and pulling out his phone.

"He's...answering his phone?"

"He looks worried about it, almost frantic to answer."

"No, no, no!  Where is he go-is he leaving?!  What the-...NO!"  The man rushes out the door, his phone still up to his ear and his mouth moving animatedly, suggesting it was a very serious phone call.  "So he just drugs her and leaves?  That's not possible."

Bobbi uploads another bunch of tapes onto her computer, opening the video while Skye still watches her own screen carefully.

"Okay, wait.  Clara just talked to Lucy again, and now Clara is walking to the back.  Wait, she's going to the back!  What if he just left out the front so that it was less suspicious, but he's still just meeting her out the back-"

"Parking lot security footage shows him leaving in his car," Bobbi interjects, sighing and rubbing her temples in frustration.  "He's not our guy."

"She went alone to meet someone in the back, but who?"

"We don't know," Bobbi mutters.  "We're back to square one."

Skye groans angrily, letting her head flop down onto her desk in defeat.

"Why do none of these places have security cameras by the back door!?"

"Wait..Skye...that's actually a good point.  Oh my God, our killer only goes to bars that don't have security cameras out the back."

"Holy shit, pull up all bars in the area that-"

"Don't have cameras in the back, yeah, already on it."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...this one is a bit shorter than the others. Also, I'm sorry this one came out a bit later than I expected...apparently I do have a life? Filled with homework and evil teachers at school? Yeah...

Skye hears footsteps just outside the door to her office, but she doesn't let it faze her or take her attention off her computer screen for a second, the footage playing before her much more important that whoever is deciding to visit her.  She's been watching the same security tapes for the past hour, still trying to see if she could make a connection between "ketamine guy" and anyone else in the bar that could possibly be the murderer of Clara.

"Knock knock," a deep and male voice calls, and while it strikes a sense of familiarity in the back of Skye's mind she still doesn't take her eyes off the screen.

"I have very important work to do right now, so if you could leave, that'd be great."  Other workers and officers knew not to bother Skye while she was busy or at least seemed busy, so she doesn't really care about shooting whoever this person is down, because honestly?  They should know better.

"I brought you coffee and a nice little snack," the voice continues, and at the promise of coffee her eyes glance up reluctantly.  "Ah-ha!  I knew that would get you."

"Ward, what are you doing here?" she asks, her full attention now on her old partner before Trip, a small smile twitching up on the corners of her lips as she reaches out to take the coffee and small little baggie of unknown goodies that Ward's outstretched hand is holding out to her.

Ward pulls up a chair and plops himself down in front of the other detective's desk, folding one of his legs atop the other and leaning back to get comfortable.  He watches with an amused smile as Skye pulls out the doughnut from the brown paper bag, her smile dropping as she gives him a pointed look.

"Ha _ha_ , very funny," she grumbles.

"Police officers like doughnuts, right?" he jokes.

"I'm a detective, not an officer.  Plus, you used to work here too, so technically you're insulting yourself when you make that joke."

"Just eat the dang doughnut."

"Fine," Skye relents, taking an obnoxiously big bite just to irritate Ward.  She chews for a bit, but then continues their conversation through the pieces of the sugary treat that were still in her mouth.  "Now tell me why you're here."

Ward tries to act disgusted, but honestly it was such a norm for Skye to speak with her mouth full on purpose, so he barely bats an eyelash.  "I'm here because Trip told me you weren't working with him anymore when I called to check on you guys.  I figured I'd come down to the station myself to see what was going on."

"Well," Skye starts, pausing to finish swallowing the bite she took, "Coulson put me on a new case with Bobbi Morse.  He said it was a big deal or something, so Morse was the better option over Trip.  He just wants to get this one closed as fast as possible because it's already taken too many lives, so he put his best on it."

Ward's face turns into one of concern and worry, sitting up in his seat a bit.  "You're on the bar case, aren't you?  The one where woman are killed at bars, but no trace is left behind?"

"Yeah, that's the one."  Skye furrows her brow.  "How'd you know?"

"I've heard talk about it.  I still call up some of my buddies from time to time like how I call you and Trip, and they've talked about the rumors of how stressful this case is.  The last two who were on it went insane, Skye.  you have to drop it.  Give it to someone else-"

"I can't give it to someone else, Ward!" Skye hisses.  "I'm already invested in it, and Bobbi would kill me if I left her alone on this.  We've already make more progress than the last team that was on it in a quarter of the time.  We could actually solve th-"

"No, Skye.  You can't.  This is a dangerous and life consuming case.  I've heard all about it.  As your old partner _and_ friend, I have to advise you not to go through with this."

Before Skye can respond, a small ding comes from her phone, and she quickly glances over at the object to see an alert from Bobbi flashing on the screen.

_'meeting.  now.'_

She sighs, then grabs the phone and pockets it as she stands from her seat, collecting her things and stuffing them into the drawer of her desk before grabbing the coffee Ward brought for her.

"I have to go and meet with Bobbi.  You can stay if you want, but just know that even if you stay to try and talk me out of this, it's not going to work."

***

"This is what we have so far," Bobbi announces, stepping back and capping her pen as she looks back at her work on the whiteboard, she and Skye standing in one of the more private conference rooms, the other woman leaning against the table in the room as she watches Bobbi, her arms crossed over her chest and lips scrunched in concentration.

Bobbi had written a small web, connecting everything that they had so far to the best of her ability.  One little bubble had 'ketamine guy' written in it, and next to that was the word 'suspect'.  Then there was Lucy and Clara connected together since they were friends.  Then off to the side was 'KETAMINE', in big words since it was a big hint, both 'ketamine guy' and 'suspect' bubbles being connected to it.  Then off to the side were the names of the past victims, 'Carly', 'Abigail', 'Stephanie', and 'Taylor', all of them being connected to Lucy and to each other since they all had the same appearances and were all victims.  Then just above 'KETAMINE' was 'cameras', then next to that was 'bars'.

"So, our suspect has committed all homicides at a bar," Bobbi starts, using her pen to point to the respective word bubble 'bars'.  "But, after I finished looking back over the cases, our killer actually doesn't just go to bars without cameras out the back."  Bobbi puts an 'X' across the word 'cameras'.  "The killer just kills them in the bathroom or another location if there do happen to be cameras in the back.  They're good enough to locate all camera angles, and then they take the kill in the one spot that will guarantee their safety from being found out."  Bobbi moves her pen over to the cluster of names of past victims.  "All of these women, including Clara, were killed all in the same way.  Stab wound to the stomach, and choking around the neck.  But Clara, up here-," Bobbi moves her pen up to 'Clara', "-is a different case.  She was the only one who wasn't alone on the night of her death, and she's also the only one who didn't fight.  Why?  Because there was a slip up in the suspect's calculations.  Somewhere in Clara's case was a slip up, so we need to focus on that."  Bobbi uncaps her pen to draw a line from 'Clara' to 'suspect', writing 'SLIP UP' across it to remind them that that's something they have to focus on.  "Then over here, "ketamine guy"."  Bobbi points to the respective words as she says them.  "He left in a rush after getting a phone call despite all efforts to drug Clara.  The call was either an emergency, or it was staged.  We'll focus more on that later.  But, with the topic of ketamine, we have to take into consideration that this drug is another possible connection between all of these cases, and it could be a big lead."

"Now that we know what "ketamine guy" looks like, we could go back and check all the past security tapes from the past victims and try to see if we can spot him again.  We may not have found any suspicious activity before, but if we even see his face, it could give us some proof that he's a bigger part of this than he made it seem during the night of Clara's murder," Skye says, her eyes still scanning over the words on the whiteboard.  "Do we know if any of the past victims had traces of ketamine in their bodies?"

Bobbi frowned.  "Our files have the blood work of all the past victims after their examination in forensics, but when I looked back at them I realized that I can barely read, nor understand anything that was written.  So, fifteen minutes ago I tried to call Coulson and ask for the official and original reports on the victims written by other officers that would possibly be much easier to understand, but then he called back and said that all the paper work on the victims in our case couldn't be found.  He said he's doing everything he can to find them again, but for right now we have nothing."

"Unless we take the papers from our files and bring them down to forensics ourselves.  That should be simple."

"Oh...actually, yeah, that could work.  Huh...  Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because you don't like walking down there."

"True...it's a bit creepy."

Skye just rolls her eyes and grabs Bobbi's writs, tugging her along back to their shared office so they can get the papers and head down to forensics.  She wants to get this case over and done with as soon as possible, and finding out if all victims had ketamine in their systems could be a huge breakthrough.

With Skye's determined speed they get to their office pretty quickly (actually, Bobbi is extremely surprised that Skye was able to get them there that fast).  Bobbi goes over to her desk to retrieve her file while Skye does the same, opening her drawer and pulling out the manila folder, quickly flipping through the papers to find the paper Bobbi was talking about...but finds nothing.

"Wait, Bobbi, are you sure it's in both of our files?  I don't think I have one."  Skye looks through the folder again, slower this time, but still doesn't find anything.  "Yup, I don't have anything about blood work."

"Weird...  We'll just take mine then.  Hold on."  Bobbi looks through her folder for the paper she glanced over just a while ago, but scowls when she can't find it.  "Okay, wait a second, I don't have it either."

"What do you mean you-"

"It's not in my folder, but I swear I pulled it out of there earlier to look over it.  I don't know...I guess it must've been from somewhere else, but I swear I found it when looking through the file."

"Jeez Bobbi, you're losing it.  Come on, now we _really_ have to go down to forensics."

***

"Ay, mate, how does this work again?"

Trip rolls his eyes, standing from his seat and walking over to his new partner, who was currently scratching his head and trying to figure out how to turn on the desk lamp.  He stops in front of the other man, glaring down at him while he simply brings a hand up to press down on the little switch, effectively causing light to pool down onto his partner's files.

"You're magical, you know that?"

"Hunter, are you drunk, man?"

Lance Hunter takes a second to think over his answer, his finger drawing incoherent circles in the air while he thought.  He then points the finger at Trip (after taking a quick moment to right himself when he actually pointed a bit past his target), trying to look as serious as possible.  "No, of course not.  It's just late in the evening.  You can't expect me to be fully comprehensive at this hour.  That's bloody impossible."

"It's three in the afternoon."  Trip is not amused, and he's starting to sense a pattern in his new partner's habits.  This isn't the first time Hunter has appeared to be drunk or intoxicated while at work.

"It was just a few beers, mate."

"Your slurring says otherwise."

"I had a rough night, what can I say?"

"Not at work man.  Not. At. Work.  That's all I ask.  We actually have serious work to do."

"And I'm doing it!"

"Damn, man, you can't even turn on your lamp."

"It's a very tricky lamp."  Trip just continues to stare at him, obviously not in the mood for Hunter's shit.  "No?"

"Get back to work."

Hunter calls a chipper "aye, aye, cap'n!" as Trip walks back to his desk, but Trip just shakes his head and ignores it.

***

"Dr. Simmons, we have a mission for you."

Jemma jumps at the very familiar voice from behind her, not as much from fright as it is from excitement, quickly bringing a hand up to place a few strands of hair back into place before twirling around in her small workspace, a grin slowly making it's way onto her face the more her eyes took in Skye's figure before her. 

"Oh, hello Agent Johnson," she greets cheerfully before turning to Bobbi and simply nodding at her.  "Agent Morse."  Bobbi tries not to be offended at how the scientist sounded much less enthusiastic, seeming to lose interest when speaking to her instead of Skye.  "What can I help you with today?"  Obviously her full attention is back on Skye now, giving Bobbi the opportunity to fake gag without being noticed.

"I'm sure you're aware of our case, and so we were wondering if you could help us find out if any of the victims, aside from Clara, also had ketamine in their system?" Skye asks hopefully.

Jemma picks up on the other woman's tone immediately, jumping into science mode and sputtering something akin to 'give me a second' before she rushes off to gather everything Skye needs, because she'll be damned if she disappoints the detective in any way.  Fitz wordlessly helps her look through the files when he notices Jemma's internal frenzy to find what she needs, he being the only one who knows that even when Jemma seems completely calm she can be dealing with a thunderstorm of emotions on the inside.

When Fitz makes a small triumphant noise Jemma practically pounces to grab the papers, but the other scientist jerks it back just in time, holding it as far away from his friend as possible.

" _Fitz_ -" Jemma begins to hiss, but Fitz interrupts her quickly.

"Ask her out."

"Wha-no!  I can't just-no, impossible.  Fitz, I barely know her."

"That's what dates are for; to get to know someone!"

"I'm not going to ask her out.  Besides, she'll never be interested in me.  She's out of my league."

"You're not getting these papers until you promise me you'll ask her on a date."

"You're a bloody jerk, Leo." Jemma deadpans.  "I hate you for making me do this."

Fitz does a small victorious dance while Jemma snags the papers from him, huffing one last time for good measure before rushing back to Skye and Bobbi.

Jemma's anger and hatred dissipates, however, once she comes face to face with Skye's warm smile again, her thoughts now being focused more on how Skye can be so attractive while also being so casual and nonchalant, instead of how stupid and mean Fitz can be sometimes.

"It took a bit of digging, but I was able to collect all of the files from the autopsy on each of the victims.  After glancing over them a bit, I _can_ confirm that ketamine was found in their bloodstreams."

"Great, this is perfect!" Bobbi exclaims, stepping forward to grab the papers from Jemma.  "We now know that our suspect has possession of ketamine and that it plays a big part in his homicides.  This is a huge lead, Skye."

"We should check back and look to see if we can find "ketamine guy" in any of the security tapes from the past victims.  If we find him, we could track him and get some answers." Skye continues, glancing over Bobbi's shoulder (or, well, due to the other woman's height it was more like Skye was just looking over her arm) to look over the papers.

The two detectives chatter for a bit longer before promptly realizing they have plenty of work to do.  Bobbi quickly says her goodbyes and scurries off, wanting to be back in the comfort of her and Skye's office as soon as possible since forensics always kinda creeped her out.  Skye watches her partner run off before turning back to Jemma.

"Thanks again, Jemma.  We really appreciate your help.  This case has been crazy."

Jemma frowns (even though her heart soars at Skye addressing her by her first name).  "Is the case causing you trouble?"

Skye snorts bitterly.  "Yeah, a lot of trouble actually.  Every time we think we get a lead, it somehow cancels out.  Though, this whole ketamine thing might just get us somewhere, so really, you've been the bearer of good news today."

Jemma smiles, but then it falters when she thinks back to how Skye said that this case is causing her stress and trouble.

"You know, if you ever need help with the case, or get stuck on anything and want to just talk it over, I'd be more than happy to assist you."  She knows that Skye has Bobbi and would probably much prefer to talk to someone else that actually knew what was going on, but hey, it was worth a shot.

"I may just take you up on that offer, Jemma Simmons."  Skye's smile turns into a smug smirk, and even though Jemma has no idea why, she can't bring herself to have any thoughts about it other than how surprisingly attractive it was.  "I'll see you around."

When Skye is gone, Fitz comes waltzing up with an unamused expression on his face, obviously not pleased with how Jemma didn't do as she promised.

"Another time!" she snaps.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know why I'm doing this. Anyway, thanks for reading <3 Next chapter should be up soon, since I literally have no life aside from being Skimmons trash.


End file.
